Ukrainian model Karolina Shiino, who won Japanese citizenship and holds dual nationality, said she will resign from her winning status in the Miss Japan Grand Prix 2024. The announcement came after a magazine report that she had become romantically involved with a married influencer.

The report came out on Wednesday, published by Shukan Bunshun, alleging Shiino had an affair with a married doctor. At first, the Miss Japan organizer rebuffed the claim on the ground that the doctor misrepresented himself as a single man and Shiino did not know he was married. However, on Monday, the association admitted that Shiino had been aware of the marriage of the doctor and apologized for the earlier denial.

Shiino, on the other hand, tendered her resignation as Miss Japan. Following heavy advice from the contest body, she ceded the title in the face of the revelation. In her own words, Shiino allegedly said she was sorry if she had made anybody troubled, and she felt she had let down all the people who had believed in her.

The association later issued a statement apologizing for the incident and announced that they would keep the top prize vacant for the year. Shiino turned out to be a Miss Japan Grand Prix winner of high notability, as she was the first person of European descent to win the title as well as the first naturalized Japanese citizen. However, she also went down in history as the first winner to give up her title.

Shiino, who moved to Japan when she was five, said she received social media comments questioning whether it was right to crown someone not of Japanese ethnicity. This has sparked a wider discussion on what it means to be Japanese and what eligibility for Miss Japan should involve.